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page 34 of the online mineral museum: around the world in quartz

Yesterday we took a spin around the amazingly varied world of Arkansas
Quartz. But it can't be all Arkansas, all the time, can it? Today, I'll
inspect a few specimens from other localities.

Brazil, "Paradise of Gemstones," as one of my gem and mineral books would
have it, is the happy hunting ground for many a fine quartz specimen.
Just on this shelf, I have four interesting examples that I picked up
at the gem shows in the early to mid 1990s.

This large, overflowing the fist sized specimen of Smoky Quartz is a
true enhydros/elestial. When we purchased it in 1995, it had a large water
drop trapped inside of it. Now I can't find it. I wonder if there was a
pinpoint leak that allowed the water to seep out or if I have just forgotten
where to look in the somewhat intricately patterned stone.

Citrine -- golden Quartz crystals! I believe that these Citrine clusters
from Brazil are heat-treated to deepen the rich orange color.

These two specimens of "Landscape" Quartz from Brazil have been cut and
polished to form these fine, upstanding obelisks. Probably the otherwise fine
material had chips or damage to the points, but labor was cheap in Brazil
in those days, and they re-cut the stone to show off the inclusions. Which
do you prefer? The tall guy with the "moss" inside or the short guy with
the banded phantoms?

This long, thin natural rock Quartz crystal wand is from Madagascar.

Probably every American or metaphysical collection of Quartz crystals should
have a so-called Herkimer "diamond." This classic double-terminated Quartz
from Herkimer, New York can be beautifully crystal clear in the smaller,
earring sizes -- or it can be a bubble of inclusions and fascinating rainbows
in the larger sizes. I bought a bunch for re-sale in 1990 and just held
back these three for my personal collection:

Trying to photograph the rainbows is a bear, but they're magical in person, and it's easy to understand why so many New Age/tarot shops have a Herkimer "diamond" or two
hidden around the place.

My very best Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada amethyst point is not held in the mineral collection. Instead, it is kept in the bird
room, for reasons I've explained elsewhere. I've held this second large specimen as a cabinet piece but if
I get into stone carving/re-shaping of larger stones, then I may
seriously consider doing some carving of this deep purple but imperfect over-sized crystal.